Trumpeter 1/48 F-100C mini-review

[KursadA]

My Trumpeter F-100C kit arrived today. Here are some photos and first impressions:

The box top actually looks good, and the artwork is far better than some of the earlier Trumpeter kit box artwork I had seen. At least it does not look like the handiwork of a Beijing middle-school art student like the 1/32 F-100D art does.

The fuselage breakdown is very different from that of the Monogram kit:

The panel lines and rivets look OK to me, they are fairly restrained if somewhat soft:

Separate control surfaces on the wings:

[KursadA]

Both the standard and F-102 style afterburners are included; as well as two styles of air brakes:

This sprue is clearly intended to be common among all F-100D kits, so you have two F-100D/F style seats. Unfortunately these are incorrect for the A and C models. I added closeups of the headrests and seats.

[KursadA]

There are two TERs included in the kit as well as four AIM-9's, but no air-to-ground ordnance whatsoever. The 275 gal. drop tanks look a little too rotund to me. I am glad I kept some Monogram ones around, shown here for comparison.

The transparencies look pretty good.

Two different ANG options on the decal sheet.

[KursadA]

The main gear wheels looked oversized to me. It is even more obvious when photographed side-by-side with their Monogram counterparts:

That's all for tonight. Overall, it looks like a fine kit to me, even though some parts are not as fine as those on the Monogram F-100D. It looks like there are some great opportunities for aftermarket folks here: the kit definitely needs an accurate F-100C seat, and perhaps a nose correction a la Zactoman's 1/32 product. I plan to compare the kit outlines against a scaled-up print of the 1/72 plans in the Detail & Scale book sometime tomorrow.

[Ben Brown]

Thanks for posting! It will be interesting to see how it compares dimentionally wiith the Monogram kit. Looks like it's going to need some larger national insignia for the wings on the silver jet.

Ben

[jwest21]

Does your kit have a slight mold mismatch on the fuselage? It is vertical, where the tail section would detach to show the engine, like the F-105 does. It is like they originally had the fuselage broken up into front and back, then scrapped the idea and attached the front and back together just forward of the vertical tail

[Ben Brown]

Hi guys,

I'll tack this on to Kursad's post since he has photos. I tore into my kit without stopping to shoot pics. If you're of the "It Looks Like An F-100 To Me" persuasion, you can stop reading here.

As previously noted, the cockpit is just plain wrong. No F-100C parts to be found in the box! One thing that will be good on the D/F kits is the instrument panel decal. You just paint the panel grey and add the decal, which takes care of the bezels and such, then hit it with Solvaset and walk away. Works great on the Tamiya and Hasegawa kits I've done this on. Looks like the F-100C panel that's included on the Eduard F-100D set might fit the kit panel. The consoles are better than Monogram's, but there is no throttle or map case. The floor has the same hokey diamond pattern that the 1/32 kit has. The gunsight is about as detailed as what you'd find in a 1/72 kit. The kink in the deck behind the seat is about 1mm farther forward than Monogram's, which moves the ammo bay access panel forward into the cockpit. Not much you can do about it, other than hide the panel lines under a coat of paint. I think it's still better than the 1/32 kit.

The tail is too tall and too broad in chord. The rudder is slightly too low on the fin, and the tail needs to be cut down by about 4mm. If you take a slice out of the fin just above the fairing, you can take care of the height/chord problem, but there really isn't anything to be done about the rudder besides pray Harold or somebody releases a corrected fin. I've got a couple of Monogram fins in the parts box, so I'll probably be modifying one of those. The fuel tank vent fairing needs to be reshaped a little, too, as it's shape is simplified. Here's a really bad drawing showing how to cut down the fin:

And here's Jennings' take on it:

http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index....howtopic=197332

They cheaped-out on the inboard main gear doors. They are the later D doors with the small panel molded shut, so they could use them on the C. They will need a new interior to fix. I guess for a D & F, you'll have to cut out the small panel and glue it open.

The intake lip is too flat on the bottom. If you line the two kits up side by side, everything is in the same spot, except the Trump kit's main gear well is about 1mm farther aft and the Trumpeter kit loses a little over 1mm to the Monogram kit somewhere forward of the cockpit. Panel lines are very similarly-placed. The nose wheel well and speed brake well are in the same spot. The panel line for the intake lip section on the Trump kit is several mm farther aft than the break for the intake part on the Monogram kit. Looks like the Monogram part might be too wide to modify for the Trump kit. The panel lines on the entire kit are nice and thin, and the rivets look like pin pricks, for the most part. Again, why couldn't those idiots have done that on the 1/32 kit!!!!! There are some odd or misplaced panels here and there as on the 1/32 kit. They're mirrored on the right side, so the kick in steps will have to be filled and an extra panel will need to be added to the flight control access panel (?). The guard for the arrestor hook is molded into the fuselage, and is on the wrong side for a C. The gun blast panels are nice and deep, but there are no exposed gun muzzles.

The stabilators have tabs that fit into slots in the fuselage. This can be fixed with some brass rod and styrene. The fairings at the lower aft fuselage are just thick chunks of plastic. They'll need thinning and some sheet styrene to fix. The tail bumper's well will need to be boxed in. As is, it's open to the fuselage interior.

The wings are about 1 to 1.5mm too narrow in chord, compared to the Monogram kit. They match up pretty well with the D&S drawings. The main gear wells in the wings look pretty good. Why the hell didn't they do the 1/32 kit this way? They also did a better job on the gear struts than they did on the 1/32 kit. The mains don't seem to be too long & too fat like the 1/32 struts. They're the same size as the Monogram struts. The main gear wheels will need replacing. They're too big, just like on the 1/32 kit. The nose wheels look OK, but will probably go out with the mains. It would be nice to have some nose wheels with the early hubs that had spokes or six holes.

Curved and straight refueling probes are provided, with the curved probe having the short mount and the straight one having the long mount. The mount for the straight probe has the squarish fairing molded into it, instead of being molded on the wing. You'll have to add this if using the curved probe. No lens is provided for the light on the short mount. The tips look better than the Monogram kit's, which I always thought looked like the nipple on a baby bottle.

The canopy looks pretty good, but it's more narrow at the aft end than the Monogram kit's. It might actually have a slightly better shape than Monogram's. The closest F-100 to me is 3 hours away, so I won't be able to measure to see which is right. The windscreen is about a millimeter shorter than Monogram's and the sides where they meet the fuselage are curved where they should be almost straight. The center panel is too narrow. I may look into modifying a Monogram or Squadron vac windscreen for my kit, although this will require some changes to the fuselage.

The intake duct looks pretty good, except for the ejector pin marks in the upper half. The duct stops at the aft edge of the nose gear well and is open to the interior of the model. Very strange. It's going to be a bear filling the seams inside!

The afterburner section is too short (doesn't go deep enough into the fuselage) and has some pretty imaginative detail inside, but its an improvement over Monogram's. I'm sure Aires will modify their AB set soon. The F-102 nozzle doesn't look very much like the real thing. The other nozzle is kind of plain, but is an improvement over Monogram's. The turbine wheel/afterburner spray rings are all one part, but there are no turbine blades molded into the disc, just the spray rings.

The speed brake with the wide cut out is provided, but the sprue will be used for the D/F kits, too, and only the C speed brake is mentioned in the instructions. The well details are pretty good.

The 275-gal drop tanks are just a little too fat, compared to Monogram's, and the noses are too blunt. The fins could use some reshaping. No provisions for making 335-gal tanks are provided, and the tanks are too fat to use conversion parts intended for the Monogram kit's tanks.

The AIM-9Bs (?) look good to my eye, but I'm not much of a Sidewinder expert. The only other things you get to hang on the pylons are some TERs (which I think might have been carried on the C late in its career?), a buddy refueling pod and what looks like a practice bomb dispenser. The TERs look pretty good and will be a nice addition to my Hasegawa F-4E.

The decals are an improvement over the 1/32 kit's decals, in that you can use them. The stencils aren't great,but are better than what was provided on the old Superscale sheets. There are no stencils or ejection seat warning triangles for the camouflaged jet. Going back to the tail, any decals sized for the kit fin won't fit a corrected fin, and vice-versa.

I must say, I'm surprised. This is definitely a more accurate F-100 than the 1/32 Hunzilla, but I give it a C because they screwed up the cockpit, tail, and nose. If they had got those right, this kit would be a solid B.

Ben

EDIT: Corrected my correction that mistakenly said the tail was OK. :)

Edited November 21, 2009 by Ben Brown

[Harold]

I had a revelation this morning. After looking a little closer at the 'pit...

It needs a throttle quadrant and map box. But doesn't look too bad in the small scale. (the details are a little too spread out, I think)

I am working on a full 'pit replacement for it, however, I am thinking of offering a mini set as well. The most obvious would be the gunsight, rear deck and seat, oh yes the joystick. (it is more like the F-86 stick with the curve)

The modeler could cut out some styrene and cover the waffles on the deck easy enough, too.

What do ya'll think?

Harold

[Ben Brown]

I had a revelation this morning. After looking a little closer at the 'pit...

It needs a throttle quadrant and map box. But doesn't look too bad in the small scale. (the details are a little too spread out, I think)

I am working on a full 'pit replacement for it, however, I am thinking of offering a mini set as well. The most obvious would be the gunsight, rear deck and seat, oh yes the joystick. (it is more like the F-86 stick with the curve)

The modeler could cut out some styrene and cover the waffles on the deck easy enough, too.

What do ya'll think?

Harold

Oooo! I'd be up for the mini set!

BTW, I looked again, and the rudder is OK. The tail is still pooched, but the rudder is fine. This week I'll try to come up with a drawing showing an easy way to fix the fin.

Ben

Edited October 26, 2009 by Ben Brown

[singeri]

Ben - thanks for comprehensive review! :mellow:

Harold - I would be interested in both the full set and the mini!

[TXCajun]

Thanks for the review. Seeing as I already have the Monogram kit in the stash, I think I'll just rescribe it and pass on the Trumpeter kit, though.

[Darren Roberts]

Thanks for the review. Seeing as I already have the Monogram kit in the stash, I think I'll just rescribe it and pass on the Trumpeter kit, though.

If you really want a C, that won't work though. I love the old Monogram kit, but I want to do the 136th FIS out of Niagara Falls, and they flew C's. The Trumpeter kit sounds like it will be a fun build.

[kstater94]

If you really want a C, that won't work though. I love the old Monogram kit, but I want to do the 136th FIS out of Niagara Falls, and they flew C's. The Trumpeter kit sounds like it will be a fun build.

Same here Darren

I ordered one from Gordon as I need a C model Hun in order to build a KANG jet. And, ya know what, I'm gonna build it OOB and stick it on a shelf when I'm done. And all that will see it will say, "Oh, look a "C" model Hun". And that will be the end of it. (If they even know what a F-100 is and care what version it is).

I know the differences and what should and shouldn't be there, but quite frankly, I DON'T CARE.

I think the picking apart of this kit (and every other mainstream kit that has been released over the last 5 to 10 years) has gotten out of hand.

But, that is just my opinion (just as others have voiced theirs)

Heading back to the bench

- John

[Ben Brown]

OK, thanks to Jennings' asking me if I was sure about my comments on the tail, I went back and checked again, this time against station diagrams. Turns out, the tail is OK. Just a mm or so off. The fairing still needs a little reshaping, but that's it.

I apologize if I've caused problems for anyone building this kit. I'll be going off to eat some crow for lunch, & supper now.

Ben

[Gene K]

Thanks for the comprehensive comments, Ben! I was looking forward to your review, so appreciate your sharing your observations and suggestions. Impressions from an expert like you are much more valuable (to say the least) than a "looks like a (XXXXX) to me" proclamation.

Gene K

[Harold]

Not a 100% accurate, but it sure beats the kit seat. I still need to add the rear "roll" bar, arm and foot rest. Plus belts, hoses.

[Ben Brown]

Thanks, Gene! I guess I should've prefaced my thoughts with, "If it looks like an F-100 to you, read no further."

Harold, that seat looks great! That sucker must be a real bear to cast. I've got my check book standing by.

Ben

[Jennings]

Okay Harold, cockpit looking good. Now we need:

1. Correct drop tanks

2. Correct main and nose wheels

3. Correct main gear doors (gee, does this sound like a Trumpeter kit, or what?)

J

[Huey Gunner]

Thanks, Gene! I guess I should've prefaced my thoughts with, "If it looks like an F-100 to you, read no further."

Harold, that seat looks great! That sucker must be a real bear to cast. I've got my check book standing by.

Ben

You must be in good standings with him. He only takes cash or trades in live stock with me!

[Harold]

You must be in good standings with him. He only takes cash or trades in live stock with me!

Sometimes the first born will work. LOL

Hey Gunner, I hope you got the last goodies you needed..

[Aggressor Supporter]

Nice little review there. Thanks for posting.

[Aggressor Supporter]

Double post.

Edited November 17, 2009 by Aggressor Supporter

[jaydar]

Interesting, in the overall scheme of things i am only going to build an F if it looks acceptable next to the Monogram D.

If they look like distant cousins instead of brothers it is not going anywhere near my shelf.

joe.

[Ben Brown]

OK, thanks to Jennings' double-checking my "correction" to my original statement that the tail was too big, it turns out I was right the first time. The tail is too big. I've modified my original post (again!) to reflect that. I guess Trumpeter has lived up to their rep after all.

Ben (disppointed)

[Harold]

Ben.

You have a box on the way.

Let me (us) know what you think....

Cheers,

Harold